My Pick for the Finest Album of the Twentieth Century

Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"

Mar 04, 2023

Late in life I discovered Miles Davis’s album “Kind of Blue.” The legendary trumpet player recorded it in 1959, when I was nine years old. I can offer no excuse why it took me to my forties to sit down with this masterpiece. Except that missing all the early hubbub among my musician friends helped me to approach it with a calm heart, without prep, no hype, for my ears only, and then I got clobbered.

Miles Davis’s sextet included jazz greats Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans. Before the recording, Miles mapped out the melodies and quickly conceived each tune’s direction using a modal framework, instead of the crowded, dense chord progressions of bebop. His intent was simplicity and improvisation by brilliant players.

Books have been written on the transformative power of “Kind of Blue” in American music. Rock guitarist Duane Allman credited Miles and the other musicians stunning melodic phrasing that would serve the heart and technique of his own solo work.

The real heartbreaker for me is “Blue in Green,” which starts with Bill Evan’s slow romantic chords followed by Mile Davis’s long mournful note on trumpet. Miles ends his solo simply, like a lover on a deserted city street lighting a cigarette, and then walking away. Bill Evans enters the scene on piano, a few chords, space abounding, and the tune rises with majesty.

I remember a photo of Miles Davis from the liner notes in my CD. He’s young, 33, and smiling, ecstatic, and who wouldn’t be, creating a masterpiece for the ages. Talk about a day in the sun!

Spring always returns, and so does “Kind of Blue.”

Editor’s Note: Check out the ongoing discussions about music at GOTD and associate editor Mike Kilgore’s daily music series:

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